The extraordinary case involving a Texas teenager who was not sentenced to prison after he drunkenly drove into and killed four people is creating a national cry for justice. 16-year-old Ethan Couch received a light sentence after his attorney and experts testified in court that the teen suffered from “affluenza” and has never had to suffer any consequences for his actions. Many are expressing outrage over a sentencing that they say would have been far harsher had Couch been poor and a minority.

CNN reported that Couch, a teenager too young to drive legally, violated a number of laws when he killed four people in a drunken driving accident. Nor is it his first offense. At the age of 15, he was caught by police with a naked 14-year-old girl in a parked pickup truck.

“A psychologist and defense witness testified the boy suffered from something called ‘affluenza,’ a lifestyle where wealth brought privilege and there were no consequences for bad behavior,” reported CNN’s Randi Kaye. The prosecution sought 20 years for Couch’s multiple violations, but the teen only received 10 years probation and a mandatory stay in a rehabilitation facility.

“It doesn’t really exist,” said former prosecutor Sunny Hostin of the affliction ‘affluenza.’ “We in the legal community have often said there’s this disparity between wealthy kids, people in general, and poor people. You see that play out in the system. Now, we actually have a name for it.”

HLN host Jane Velez-Mitchell agreed. “The entire criminal justice system has ‘affluenza,’” she charged. “We have a prison-industrial complex that is replete with institutionalized racism and classism, and we have to do something about it.”

The parents of the drunk driving teen controversially spared jail after killing four people have more than 20 criminal and traffic offense claims on their records - but have never served any time in prison, MailOnline can reveal today....

Now MailOnline can reveal his parents, millionaire sheet metal manufacturer Fred Couch and ex-wife Tonya have had many brushes with the law themselves.

They have several driving citations on their records and Mr Couch has been arrested for alleged crimes including theft, evading arrest and an alleged assault against Mrs Couch, according to official court documents obtained at the Johnson County Court records office in Cleburne.

But aside from a number of small fines for their motoring offenses and a six-month community supervision order issued to Mrs Couch, neither of them have been punished further.

In fact all of the more serious cases against Mr Couch, going back as far as 1989, have been dismissed.

Charges were dropped in the two theft cases, because Mr Couch paid substantial restitution....

Today, a source at the Johnson County court records office in Cleburne, said Mr Couch ‘must have a very good attorney’.

According to official documentation, Mr Couch, 48, has a blizzard of 22 accusations on his record, made up of four criminal misdemeanor allegations and 18 traffic violations.

They resulted in nine driving citation fines for offenses ranging from doing 95mph in a 60mph zone, to driving without his license.The majority of the other citations were dismissed.

On top of that he has been arrested over allegations of theft twice and evading arrest once. In June 1988 he allegedly bought a $46 pair of shoes with a worthless check, but the case was dismissed after he ‘paid full restitution of $830.56’.

In April 1992 he was again accused of using a worthless check, this time to buy $26.41 of gas. And again the case was dismissed after he paid $274.80.

Two years earlier he was accused of evading arrest. That case was also dismissed, although it is unclear why from court records.

And in 1996 he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife. Records state he, ‘intentionally and knowingly caused bodily injury to Tonya Couch by striking’ her ‘on or about the face with his hands causing Tonya to fall, and by grabbing’ her ‘on or about the neck with his hands, scratching’ her ‘neck’.

On that occasion Mrs Couch submitted a sworn affidavit of non-prosecution, meaning the case was dismissed.

Her police record is shorter. In 2003 she was charged with a misdemeanor offense of reckless driving after she, ‘intentionally and knowingly drove a motor vehicle in a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property’.

Court records say she pulled up behind a fellow motorist and then pulled alongside them forcing them onto the shoulder of the road.

Mrs Couch was hit with a $500 fine and a six month community supervision order.

She was also stopped for speeding and three counts of failing to adequately secure children under 17-years-old that same year...

12-18-2013, 01:10 PM

Odysseus

I'm sure that prison would cure his "condition."

12-18-2013, 02:30 PM

Novaheart

RHIP

12-19-2013, 03:10 AM

Zathras

It's not over just yet:

Quote:

Tarrant County DA seeks jail time for teen in drunken crash that killed four

by MARJORIE OWENS

FORT WORTH — The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office is attempting to put a teen at the center of a controversial verdict behind bars after he received probation in a crash that killed four.

Ethan Couch, 16, was sentenced to 10 years probation. In early December, the teen admitted in court to driving drunk when he crashed his vehicle that was carrying seven teens into a group of people. Four people were killed and several others injured in the June crash.

"There has been no verdict formally entered in the two intoxication assault cases," read a statement from District Attorney Joe Shannon. "Every case deserves a verdict. The District Attorney’s Office is asking the court to incarcerate the teen on the two intoxication assault cases. Due to limitations in the Family Code, we are unable to make additional comments."

After the teen was given probation by a judge and ordered to undergo alcohol rehabilitation, the public expressed outrage. Many criticized the defense lawyer's claim that the teen was a product of "affluenza," alleged neglect from his wealthy parents who let the teen run free. The teen's lawyer said Couch was often left alone and given little guidance or attention.

Couch's parents were ordered to pay a monthly amount of $36,000 for a year's worth of treatment at a California facility.